Monthly Archives: July 2014

This is Spike. Spike is a praying mantis. Spike is Jacob’s class pet. Jacob’s classmate Olivia caught him at her house. Spike eats live flies and crickets. Spike is WAY bigger than when this picture was taken. I find myself worrying about where Spike’s next meal will come from.…

Yesterday the worst thing happened. Nate said yellow. And then when I asked him to say it again, just to be sure, he said yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow. OK, maybe not the worst thing that could have happened yesterday, but still… salt in the wound.

The second to last weekend in May, we took a weekend trip down to SLO town. That’s San Luis Obispo. You say the ‘s’ in Luis. This isn’t Missouri, this is the territory formerly known as Mejico. One of my all time favorite things to do is to take the…

Now and then I find myself daydreaming and in the midst of these daydreams, hitting upon a million dollar idea that is going to make me rich. I’ve read a fair amount about innovation and staring off into space is foundational. That said, intellectual property management is also foundational and…

One of the most fun things about 3-year-old Nate is that he still says funny things. There’s nothing better than hanging around with an English as a First Language learner. A few weeks back when the World Cup started, he “watched” a couple of games with me. As usual, he…

It looks as though I’ve mentioned Wild Kratts in passing, though I’ve not let on that Jake is completely addicted. For those of you not up on the many choices in cartoon viewing these days (and believe me, I certainly wasn’t just four short years ago), Wild Kratts is a…

One thing we’ve tried to instill in these kids from a very early age is the value of adventurous eating. It’s one of the very few things we’ve actually been successful at instilling. That and as I mentioned previously, staring out the window on long car rides. I’m not exactly…

On our way to Avila this weekend we stopped in Paso to grab some lunch. There are a number of places on my Pinterest board that I’m dying to try… just not with two little monkeys that have been caged in a Toureg for several hours. I do have to…

I’m really excited right now because first, we’re on our way to a fun-filled four day July fourth weekend at Avila Beach with the Purnells. And second, we get to pick-up my latest vintage poster that I had framed in San Luis Obispo. Yes, three hours away seems a little…

As far back as I can remember, Jacob didn’t want to sleep. At five days old, he was squirming and yanking his protective eyewear off at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital under the jaundice lights. I didn’t sleep the entire night. Neither did he. As he got older, he would fight…